Camisado
by thespectatorion
Summary: SHIKANEJI. SHONEN AI. Okay, just had to clear that up. Anyway, songfic to Camisado by Panic at the Disco. Neji's unconscious and in the hospital, and he gets a little visit.


If you like Panic at the Disco, I recommend listening to the song while you read this. It's called Camisado. I listened to it while writing this, so I hope it has that kind of a feel.

* * *

_The I.V. and your hospital bed  
This was no accident  
This was a therapeutic chain of events. _

"I thought I'd visit," he said to the boy on the bed. "See how you were doing. Make sure, y'know? Not that I don't trust the medic-nins... I just... wanted to see. To make sure. "

He didn't expect an answer.

Neji was comatose still, and the nurse had left them alone together after Shikamaru had asked her politely to.  
_  
This is the scent of dead skin on a linoleum floor  
This is the scent of quarantine wings in a hospital _

"They nearly didn't let me in, you know. Had to lie a little, about how close we were. You're in such bad condition that they only let in close family members, and... well, spouses or lovers... But it wasn't far from the truth anyway, was it? Not far at all... That one time, if you remember it, I don't know if you do. I do. Troublesome, ne?"

He chuckled awkwardly, as though Neji could hear every word he said.

"I'm gonna sit here. If that's okay."

He wanted to assume it would be, and he sat.

_It's not so pleasant  
And it's not so conventional  
It sure as h-ll ain't normal  
But we deal, we deal _

"Gave us all a heck of a scare, didn't you?"

Neji stirred a little on the bed. Shikamaru wasn't worried he'd wake up.

_The anesthetic never set in and I'm wondering where  
The apathy and urgency is that I thought I phoned in _

"Heal fast, would you? And get stronger. I don't want... to lose anyone... to lose you..."  
_  
__ It's not so pleasant.  
And it's not so conventional  
It sure as hll ain't normal  
But we deal, we deal_

"I'd like to say more. But I haven't really got that much to say... And you can't talk, obviously. Not that you ever were a talkative person to begin with."

_Just sit back, just sit back  
Just sit back and relax  
Just sit back, just sit back  
Just sit back and relapse again_

"What am I saying? Stupid. I've got a _lot _to say. And- I want to say it, sometime-"

_Can't take the kid from the fight  
take the fight from the kid  
Sit back, relax  
Sit back, relapse again  
Can't take the kid from the fight  
take the fight from the kid  
Just sit back, just sit back_

Shikamaru leaned back in his chair.

"But it's too troublesome to spell it all out while you're lying here and you can't even hear me. A waste of breath. Heck, when you wake up, I don't think they'll even tell you I was here. I doubt you'll think of me, anyway. I hope they don't tell you. That'd be... troublesome."

_You're a regular decorated emergency  
You're a regular decorated emergency_

His eyes traveled over Neji's inert form, which was bruised and lacerated all over.

"I haven't seen you this beaten up since... since my first mission as a Chuunin. I visited you then, too. Remember that?"

_This is the scent of dead skin on a linoleum floor  
This is the scent of quarantine wings in a hospital  
It's not so pleasant.  
And it's not so conventional  
It sure as h-ll ain't normal  
But we deal, we deal_

While Shikamaru watched Neji sleep, he noticed something... odd about Neji's face.

Neji's forehead was bare.

_The anesthetic never set in and I'm wondering where  
The apathy and urgency is that I thought I phoned in  
It's not so pleasant.  
And it's not so conventional  
It sure as h-ll ain't normal  
But we deal, we deal_

"That's your cursed seal."

Without even really thinking about what he was doing, Shikamaru reached out towards Neji and moved a strand of long black hair and touched the green symbol.

"I've never seen it. You never took- you never take"_-_ _present tense, present tense- _"-off your headband. I knew it was why, but I never asked. You don't like the subject. I heard most of it in the Chuunin exams, anyway. Maybe when you wake up I'll ask you if it was resolved okay... if you're friends with Hinata now. No, wait, I've seen you together and you smiled. You never smile, either. Heh. Actually, that's a lie. You smile... at your cousins, at your teammates... at me, sometimes..."

_Can't take the kid from the fight  
take the fight from the kid  
Sit back, relax  
Sit back, relapse again  
Can't take the kid from the fight  
take the fight from the kid  
Just sit back, just sit back  
Sit back, sit back, relax, relapse  
Sit back, sit back, bababada  
You can take the kid out of the fight_

It was then that Shikamaru noticed a small pile of clothing on another chair.

A shirt he recognized. Pants he recognized. A small apron-manskirt thingy that he definitely recognized, and even chuckled on remembering.

But what was lacking was a Konoha headband.

_You're a regular decorated emergency  
The bruises and contusions will remind me what you did when you wake  
You've earned a place atop the ICU's hall of fame  
The camera caught you causing a commotion on the gurney again_

"If your headband was over there, I'd put it on you. You'd like that, wouldn't you? You'd want that. You don't like your forehead showing... But I guess they didn't recover it. And the nurses here wouldn't know that. Heck, it's unlikely they'd care if it was your wish. Probably some troublesome health code."

_You're a regular decorated emergency  
The bruises and contusions will remind me what you did when you wake  
You've earned a place atop the ICU's hall of fame  
The camera caught you causing a commotion on the gurney again_

"Do _I_ care?"

Shikamaru debated as the machines beeped in comforting rhythms, matching what he presumed to be Neji's heartbeats.

He pulled off his own headband from around his arm and stared at it. Did he really dare to do what he wanted to so desperately? It just seemed so... right...

"I... don't care."

_Can't take the kid from the fight  
take the fight from the kid  
Sit back, relax  
Sit back, relapse again  
Can't take the kid from the fight  
take the fight from the kid  
Just sit back, just sit back_

* * *

"I thought you said they didn't recover his headband."

"They... d-didn't, otou-sama. They _said_ they didn't..."

"You are correct. They didn't, these are his belongings right here, all that were recovered. I remembered about the headband, because of that mark..."

There was a pause, as Hiashi gritted his teeth at the mention of the cursed seal.

"Then would you care to tell me whose headband that is?"

"I... really don't know..."

_The I.V. and your hospital bed  
This was no accident  
This was a therapeutic chain of events_

**_the end_**

* * *

I've had that idea stuck in my head... since before school let out. It's a songfic... I haven't seen one of those for awhile. xD I think they're out of FF style. But when I heard this song the other day, I thought of Shikamaru and then that hospital scene, and how Shikamaru spends an awful lot of time visiting people in the hospital. And then I went from there to ShikaNeji, because I'm on a ShikaNeji obsess mode lately.

The title of this song means _night attack_. You might have noticed the resemblance to the word _camisa _in Spanish (or not. But I don't care!), which was the first thing I noticed. _Camisa _means _shirt_.

What an odd etymology, no?

Actually, it isn't.

That's because it has to do with the shirt worn during said night attack (...maybe it is odd, after all). It's important what shirt they're wearing, because it shows what side they're on in the attack (the people attacking wear a certain color or style of shirt or whatever)... or at least, that's how I understood it. I might be wrong- if anyone understands better, let me know, please. :D But don't ask me what night attack has to do with anything. I just thought you might be interested to know.

Anyway, please review! I'm kind of new to shonen ai, so I'd like to know how I am at writing it.


End file.
